早期人類如何進化到吃澱粉 (1/2)

Recently The New York Times on-line reported the following:

How Early Humans Evolved to Eat Starch (1/2)

Two new studies found that ancient human ancestors carried a surprising diversity of genes for amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch.

By Carl Zimmer – The New York Times Science

Updated Oct. 18, 2024, 9:54 a.m. ET

As soon as you put starch in your mouth — whether in the form of a dumpling, a forkful of mashed potatoes or a saltine — you start breaking it down with an enzyme in your saliva.

That enzyme, known as amylase, was critically important for the evolution of our species as we adapted to a changing food supply. Two new studies revealed that our ancestors began carrying more amylase genes in two major waves: the first one several hundred thousand years ago, possibly as a result of humans starting to cook with fire, and the second after the agricultural revolution 12,000 years ago.

“This combination of adapting to diverse environments and modifying our diets is a core tenet of what makes us human,” said Omer Gokcumen, a geneticist at the University at Buffalo who led one of the studies, which published on Thursday in Science.

As ancient societies developed different diets, the new research suggests, they evolved to have different numbers of amylase genes. Dr. Gokcumen speculated that people today who have fewer amylase genes may be more vulnerable to diseases like diabetes that are fueled by a starch-heavy modern diet. Down the line, the findings could point to potential amylase-based treatments for these diseases.

“This is obviously in the future, but I think our studies are really setting the stage for doing this,” Dr. Gokcumen said.

The first clues to the extraordinary history lurking in our mouths emerged in the 1960s, when scientists discovered that some people made extra amylase in their saliva. But only in the last few years has DNA-sequencing technology become accurate enough to decipher the amylase genes people carry in their cells.

“We’ve been looking at a shadow, and now we’re looking at the real thing,” said Peter Sudmant, a geneticist at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the second new study, which was published last month in Nature.

Both Dr. Sudmant and Dr. Gokcumen’s teams cataloged a wide range of amylase copies in people’s DNA. Some had a single amylase gene on each copy of chromosome 1, whereas most people had many more — in some cases, as many as 11 copies.

These larger numbers put humans in stark contrast to other species. Chimpanzees and other apes also make amylase in their saliva, but they carry only a single gene for the enzyme.

Dr. Gokcumen’s team found fossil evidence for how our early ancestors gained more amylase genes. The researchers looked at pieces of DNA retrieved from the bones of hunter-gatherers who lived 45,000 years ago. They estimated these early humans had around five copies of amylase genes. When they looked at Neanderthal fossils, they also found evidence for several copies.

Since the common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals lived over 600,000 years ago, it’s possible that extra amylase genes had already evolved by then, perhaps after those hominins had learned to control fire, Dr. Gokcumen said.

Before the advent of cooking, our ancestors could get little nutrition from raw tubers and other starch-rich plants. But the heat from fires could break down the tough fibers in the plants, making them more digestible.

“It’s night and day with cooking,” Dr. Gokcumen said.

As people depended more on starch in their diet, he hypothesized, natural selection might have favored those who made more amylase in their mouth. The extra enzymes may have also helped them absorb more nutrition.

In the Nature study, Dr. Sudmant also found evidence suggesting that amylase genes started duplicating in our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago. While it’s possible that fire spurred the evolution of extra amylase genes, Dr. Sudmant cautioned that the evidence for the hypothesis remains thin. “That’s purely speculation,” he said.

(to be continued)

Translation

早期人類如何進化到吃澱粉 (1/2)

兩項新研究發現，古人類祖先帶有澱粉酶（一種分解澱粉的酵素）基因的多樣性令人驚訝。

一旦你把澱粉放進嘴裡 - 無論是餃子、一小叉薯蓉還是一塊鹹味餅乾 - 你就會開始用唾液中的酵素將其分解。

這種酶被稱為澱粉酶，當我們適應不斷變化的食物供應時，它對於我們物種的進化至關重要。兩項新研究表明，我們的祖先在兩次主要浪潮中開始帶有更多的澱粉酶基因：第一次是幾十萬年前，可能是由於人類開始用火煮食的結果，第二次是在12,000 年前的農業革命之後。

University at Buffalo遺傳學家Omer Gokcumen領導了一項研究，該研究於週四發表在《科學》雜誌上，他說：「去適應不同環境與改變飲食的組合是我們人類的核心定律」。

新的研究表明，隨著古代社會發展出不同的飲食習慣，他們進化了不同數量的澱粉酶基因。Gokcumen博士推測，如今澱粉酶基因較少的人可能更容易罹患糖尿病等疾病，而這些疾病是由富含澱粉的現代飲食引發的。未來，這新發現可能為這些疾病提供基於澱粉酶的潛在治療方法。

Gokcumen博士說: 「這顯然是未來的事情，但我認為我們的研究確實為實現這一目標奠定了基礎」。

關於潛伏在我們口腔中的非凡歷史的第一個線索出現在 20 世紀 60 年代，當時科學家發現有些人的唾液中會產生額外的澱粉酶。但直到最近幾年，DNA 定序技術才變得足夠準確，能夠破解人們細胞中帶有的澱粉酶基因。

加州大學柏克萊分校遺傳學家 Peter Sudmant 表示：「我們一直在觀察一個影子，現在我們正在觀察其實體」。他領導了第二次新研究，該研究於上個月發表在《自然》雜誌上。

Sudmant 博士和 Gokcumen 博士的團隊都對大量人類 DNA 澱粉酶進行了分類。有些人每個 1 號染色體上都有一個澱粉酶基因，而大多數人的 1 號染色體上有更多 - 在某些情況下，多達 11 個。

這些較大的數字使人類與其他物種形成鮮明對比。黑猩猩和其他猿類也在唾液中產生澱粉酶，但它們只帶有一個酵素基因。

Gokcumen博士的團隊發現了化石證據，證明我們的早期祖先如何獲得更多的澱粉酶基因。研究人員研究了從 45,000 年前的狩獵採集者的骨頭中提取的 DNA 碎片。他們估計這些早期人類有大約五個澱粉酶基因。當他們觀察尼安德特人化石時，他們也發現了有幾個酶基因的證據。

Gokcumen博士說，由於現代人類和尼安德特人的共同祖先生活在60 萬多年前，因此額外的澱粉酶基因可能已經在那時進化出來，也許是在這些古人類學會掌控用火之後。

在熟食出現之前，我們的祖先從生的植物地下莖或根塊及其他富含澱粉的植物中所獲得的營養很少。但火所產生的熱量可以分解植物中堅韌的纖維，使它們更容易消化。

Gokcumen博士說:「我們日夜都在煮食」。

他推測，由於人們在飲食中更依賴澱粉，大自然淘汰過程可能有利於那些在口腔中產生更多澱粉酶的人。額外的酵素可能還幫助它們吸收更多的營養。

在《自然》雜誌的研究中，Sudmant博士也發現了證據，顯示澱粉酶基因在數十萬年前就開始在我們的祖先中複製。儘管用火有可能刺激了額外澱粉酶基因的演化，但Sudmant博士警告說，支持這一假設的證據仍然薄弱。他說: “這純粹是猜測” 。

（待續）

獨家-以色列笨重的傳呼機如何愚弄真主黨 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Exclusive-How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah (2/2)

Wed, October 16, 2024 at 6:39 p.m. GMT+8·8 min read

Reuters - By Maya Gebeily, James Pearson and David Gauthier-Villars

(continue)

THE WEAK LINK

From the outside, the pager’s power source looked like a standard lithium-ion battery pack used in thousands of consumer electronics goods.

And yet, the battery, labelled LI-BT783, had a problem: Like the pager, it did not exist on the market.

So Israel's agents created a backstory from scratch.

Hezbollah has serious procurement procedures to check what they buy, a former Israeli intelligence officer, who was not involved in the pager operation, told Reuters.

"You want to make sure that if they look, they find something," the former spy said, requesting not to be named. "Not finding anything is not good.”

Creating backstories, or “legends”, for undercover agents has long been a core skill of spy agencies. What made the pager plot unusual is that those skills appear to have been applied to ubiquitous consumer electronics products.

For the pagers, the agents deceived Hezbollah by selling the custom-created model, AR-924, under an existing, renowned Taiwanese brand, Gold Apollo.

Gold Apollo’s chairman, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters a day after the pager attack that he was approached about three years ago by a former employee, Teresa Wu, and her “big boss, called Tom” to discuss a licence agreement.

Hsu said he had scant information about Wu’s superior, but he granted them the right to design their own products and market them under the widely distributed Gold Apollo brand.

Reuters could not establish the identity of the manager, nor whether the person or Wu knowingly worked with Israeli intelligence.

The chairman said he was not impressed by the AR-924 when he saw it, but still added photos and a description of the product to his company’s website, helping give it both visibility and credibility. There was no way to directly buy the AR-924 from his website.

Hsu said he knew nothing about the pagers’ lethal capabilities or the broader operation to attack Hezbollah. He described his company as a victim of the plot.

Gold Apollo declined to provide further comment. Calls and messages sent to Wu went unanswered. She has not given a statement to the media since the attacks.

"I KNOW THIS PRODUCT"

In September 2023, webpages and images featuring the AR-924 and its battery were added to apollosystemshk.com, a website that said it had a licence to distribute Gold Apollo products, as well as the rugged pager and its bulky power source, according to a Reuters review of internet records and metadata.

The website gave an address in Hong Kong for a company called Apollo Systems HK. No company by that name exists at the address or in Hong Kong Corporate records.

However, the website was listed by Wu, the Taiwanese businesswoman, on her Facebook page as well as in public incorporation records when she registered a company called Apollo Systems in Taipei earlier this year.

A section of the apollosystemshk.com site devoted to the LI-BT783 put emphasis on the battery’s outstanding performance. Unlike the disposable batteries that powered older generation pagers, it boasted 85 days of autonomy and could be recharged via a USB cable, according to the website and a 90-second promotional video on YouTube.

In late 2023, two battery stores came online with the LI-BT783 listed in their catalogues, Reuters found. And in two online forums devoted to batteries, participants discussed the power source, despite its lack of commercial availability: "I know this product," a user with the handle Mikevog wrote in April 2023. "It’s got a great datasheet and a great performance."

Reuters could not establish the identity of Mikevog.

The website, the online stores, and the forum discussions bear the hallmark of a deception effort, the former Israeli intelligence officer and two Western security officers told Reuters. The websites have been scrubbed from the web since the pager bombs wreaked havoc in Lebanon, but archived and cached copies are still viewable.

Ruing the day they bought the pagers, Hezbollah leaders said they had launched internal investigations to understand how the security breach could happen and identify possible moles.

The group had shifted to pagers at the start of the year after realising that cellphone communications were compromised by Israeli eavesdropping, Reuters previously reported.

Hezbollah's investigations have helped uncover how Israeli agents used an aggressive sales tactic to make sure Hezbollah’s procurement manager chose the AR-924, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

The salesperson who conveyed the offer made a very inexpensive proposition for the pagers, “and kept bringing the price down until he was pulled in,” the person said.

Lebanese authorities have condemned the attacks as a serious violation of Lebanon's sovereignty. On Sept. 19, in his last public speech before he was killed by Israel, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the device blasts could amount to a "declaration of war" and vowed to punish Israel.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since Oct. 8, 2023, when the militant group began launching rockets at Israeli military positions in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas.

In the wake of the device attacks, Israel has launched a full-on war on Hezbollah, including a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and airstrikes that have killed most of its top leadership.

Hezbollah's internal investigation into the pager attack, still underway, suffered a setback on Sept. 28: Eleven days after the devices exploded, the senior Hezbollah official tasked with leading the procurement probe, Nabil Kaouk, was himself killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Translation

獨家-以色列笨重的傳呼機如何愚弄真主黨 (2/2)

（繼續）

弱點

從外部看，傳呼機的電源看起來就像數千種消費性電子產品中使用的標準鋰離子電池組。

然而，標示為 LI-BT783 的電池存在一個問題：與傳呼機一樣，市場上它們是不存在的。

因此，以色列特工從零開始編造了一個背景故事。

一名未參與傳呼機行動的前以色列情報官員告訴路透社，真主黨有嚴格的採購程序來檢查他們購買了的物品。

這位要求匿名的前間諜說:「你要確保他們在尋找時能找到一些東西」;「什麼都沒找到就不好的」。

為臥底特工創造背景故事或「傳說」長期以來一直是間諜機構的核心技能。傳呼機陰謀的不同尋常之處在於，這些技能似乎已應用於無處不在的消費性電子產品。

對於傳呼機，特工透過銷售客定製型號 AR-924 來欺騙真主黨，該型號是屬於現有的著名台灣品牌 Gold Apollo。

Gold Apollo 的董事長Hsu Ching-kuang 在傳呼機襲擊事件發生的第二天告訴記者，大約三年前，一名前僱員 Teresa Wu 和她的 “叫亜Tom的大老闆” 找他討論一個牌照協議。

Hsu說，他對Wu的上司所知甚少，但他授予他們設計自己產品的權利，並以廣泛流通的 Gold Apollo 品牌進行銷售。

路透社無法確定該經理人的身份，也無法確定該人或Wu是否在知情的情況下與以色列情報機構合作。

董事長表示，當他看到 AR-924 時，並沒有留下深刻的印象，但仍在公司網站上添加了該產品的照片和描述，有助於提高該產品的知名度和可信度。沒有提供直接從他的網站購買AR-924的辦法。

Hsu說，他對傳呼機的殺傷力或更廣泛的攻擊真主黨的行動一無所知。他稱他的公司是該陰謀的受害者。

Gold Apollo 拒絕提供進一步評論。給Wu的電話和簡訊均無人接聽。自從襲擊事件發生以來，她尚未向媒體發表聲明。

“我知道這個產品”

據Reuters對網路記錄和元資料的檢視，2023 年 9 月，apollosystemshk.com 上添加了 顯示AR-924 及其電池的網頁和圖片，該網站稱其擁有分銷 Gold Apollo 產品以及堅固型傳呼機及其龐大電源的許可證。

該網站提供了一家名為 Apollo Systems HK 的公司在香港的地址。在該地址或香港公司名册中沒有這公司。

然而，台灣Wu姓女商人今年稍早在台北註冊了一家名為Apollo Systems 的公司時，在她的 Facebook 頁面以及公開公司註冊記錄中列出了該網站。

在apollosystemshk.com 網站上專門介紹 LI-BT783 的部分裡, 它強調了電池的出色性能。根據該網站和 YouTube 上一段 90 秒的宣傳短片，與為老一代傳呼機供電的一次性電池不同，它擁有 85 天的續航時間，並且可以通過 USB 線充電。

路透社發現，2023 年末，兩家電池線上商店，在目錄中列出了 LI-BT783。在兩個專門討論電池的線上論壇中，參與者討論了這種電源，儘管它缺乏商業上的買賣：「我知道這個產品」; 一位名為Mikevog 的用戶在2023 年4 月寫道。「它有很棒的數據表和出色的性能」。

路透社無法確定Mikevog的身份。

前以色列情報官員和兩名西方安全官員告訴路透社，該網站、線上商店和論壇討論帶有欺騙行為的特徵帶。自從傳呼機炸彈在黎巴嫩造成嚴重破壞以來，這些網站已從網路上刪除，但從存檔和快取副本仍可以查看到。

真主黨領導人後悔那天購買了傳呼機，他們表示已啟動內部調查，以了解安全漏洞如何發生並找出可能的內奸。

根據路透社先前報道，在意識到手機通訊受到以色列竊聽的影響後，該組織於今年年初轉向傳呼機。

一位知情人士表示，真主黨的調查幫助揭露了以色列特工如何使用進取的銷售策略來確保真主黨的採購經理選擇 AR-924。

該人士表示，傳送報價的推銷員為傳呼機提出了非常便宜的建議，「並不斷降低價格，直到他被拉進來」。

黎巴嫩當局譴責這起攻擊事件嚴重侵害黎巴嫩主權。 9月19日，真主黨領袖哈桑·納斯魯拉在他被殺前的最後一次公開演講表示，這次裝置爆炸可能相當於 “宣戰” ，並誓言要懲罰以色列。

自 2023 年 10 月 8 日以來，真主黨和以色列一直在交火，當時武裝組織開始向以色列軍事陣地發射火箭，以聲援巴勒斯坦盟友哈馬斯。

裝備襲擊事件發生後，以色列對真主黨發動了全面戰爭，包括對黎巴嫩南部的地面入侵以及導致其大部分高層領導死亡的空襲。

真主黨對傳呼機襲擊事件的內部調查仍在進行中，但在9 月28 日遭遇挫折：裝備爆炸11 天後，負責領導調查採購的真主黨高級官員Nabil Kaouk在以色列空襲中身亡。

              So, the batteries inside the weaponized pagers that arrived in Lebanon at the start of the year was part of an Israeli plot to decimate Hezbollah had powerfully deceptive features and an Achilles' heel. The agents who built the pagers designed a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a novel detonator that was invisible to X-ray. To overcome the weakness of this plot, that would be the absence of a plausible backstory for this bulky new product, the agents created fake online stores, pages and posts that could deceive Hezbollah due diligence. I think from the espionage point of view, it is a successful operation.

獨家 - 以色列笨重的傳呼機如何愚弄真主黨 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Exclusive-How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah (1/2)

Wed, October 16, 2024 at 6:39 p.m. GMT+8·8 min read

By Maya Gebeily, James Pearson and David Gauthier-Villars

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The batteries inside the weaponised pagers that arrived in Lebanon at the start of the year, part of an Israeli plot to decimate Hezbollah, had powerfully deceptive features and an Achilles' heel.

The agents who built the pagers designed a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a novel detonator that was invisible to X-ray, according to a Lebanese source with first-hand knowledge of the pagers, and teardown photos of the battery pack seen by Reuters.

To overcome the weakness - the absence of a plausible backstory for the bulky new product - they created fake online stores, pages and posts that could deceive Hezbollah due diligence, a Reuters review of web archives shows.

The stealthy design of the pager bomb and the battery’s carefully constructed cover story, both described here for the first time, shed light on the execution of a years-long operation which has struck unprecedented blows against Israel's Iran-backed Lebanese foe and pushed the Middle East closer to a regional war.

A thin, square sheet with six grams of white pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) plastic explosive was squeezed between two rectangular battery cells, according to the Lebanese source and photos.

The remaining space between the battery cells could not be seen in the photos but was occupied by a strip of highly flammable material that acted as the detonator, the source said.

This three-layer sandwich was inserted in a black plastic sleeve, and encapsulated in a metal casing roughly the size of a match box, the photos showed.

The assembly was unusual because it did not rely on a standard miniaturised detonator, typically a metallic cylinder, the source and two bomb experts said. All three spoke on conditions of anonymity.

Without any metal components, the material used to trigger detonation had an edge: like the plastic explosives, it was not detected by X-ray.

Upon receiving the pagers in February, Hezbollah looked for the presence of explosives, two people familiar with the matter said, putting them through airport security scanners to see if they triggered alarms. Nothing suspicious was reported.

The devices were likely set up to generate a spark within the battery pack, enough to light the detonating material, and trigger the sheet of PETN to explode, said the two bomb experts, to whom Reuters showed the pager-bomb design.

Since explosives and wrapping took about a third of the volume, the battery pack carried a fraction of the power consistent with its 35 gram weight, two battery experts said.

"There is a significant amount of unaccounted for mass," said Paul Christensen, an expert in lithium batteries at Britain’s Newcastle University.

At some point, Hezbollah noticed the battery was draining faster than expected, the Lebanese source said. However, the issue did not appear to raise major security concerns - the group was still handing its members the pagers hours before the attack.

On Sept. 17, thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds, in most cases after the devices beeped, indicating an incoming message.

Among the victims rushed to hospital, many had eye injuries, missing fingers or gaping holes in their abdomens, indicating their proximity to the devices at the time of detonation, Reuters witnesses saw. In total, the pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponized walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400.

Two Western security sources said Israeli intelligence agency Mossad spearheaded the pager and walkie-talkie attacks.

Reuters could not establish where the devices were manufactured. The office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has authority over Mossad, did not respond to a request for comment.

Lebanon’s Information Ministry and a spokesperson for Hezbollah declined to comment for this article.

Israel has neither denied nor confirmed a role. The day after the attacks Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant praised Mossad's "very impressive" results in comments that were widely interpreted in Israel as a tacit acknowledgement of the agency's participation.

U.S. officials have said they were not informed of the operation in advance.

(to be continued)

Translation

獨家 - 以色列笨重的傳呼機如何愚弄真主黨 (1/2)

貝魯特（路透社） - 今年年初抵達黎巴嫩的武器化傳呼機內的電池是以色列消滅真主黨陰謀的一部份，它具有強大的欺騙性和致命弱點。

據一位對傳呼機有第一手了解的黎巴嫩消息人士透露，以及路透社看到的電池組拆解照片, 製造傳呼機的特工設計了一個電池，裡面隱藏著少量但威力強大的塑膠炸藥, 和X射線看不見的新型雷管。

路透社對網路檔案的審查顯示，為了克服陰謀弱點 - 這種龐大的新產品缺乏可信的背景故事 - 他們創建了虛假的在線商店、頁面和帖子，能欺騙真主黨的盡職調查。

傳呼機炸彈的隱密設計和電池精心構建的掩護故事（這兩者都是首次在此描述）揭示了長達數年的行動的執行情況，該以色列行動對由伊朗支持的黎巴嫩敵人進行了前所未有的打擊，並將中東推向地區戰爭。

根據黎巴嫩消息人士和照片，一塊薄薄的方形薄片被擠壓在兩個長方形電池之間，其中含有六克白色季戊四醇四硝酸酯（PETN）塑膠炸藥。

消息人士稱，照片中看不到電池之間的剩餘空間，它被一條充當雷管的高度易燃材料佔據。

照片顯示，這種三層三明治被插入黑色塑膠套中，並封裝在火柴盒大小的金屬外殼中。

消息人士和兩名炸彈專家表示，這次組裝很不尋常，因為它不依賴標準的小型雷管，通常是金屬圓筒。三人均要求匿名。

由於沒有任何金屬成分，用於引發爆炸的材料有一個優勢：與塑膠炸藥一樣，它無法被 X 射線檢測到。

兩名知情人士稱，真主黨在二月收到傳呼機後，檢查是否有爆炸物，並透過機場安全掃描儀檢查是否會觸發警報。沒有收到有可疑的報告。

兩名看過路透社展示傳呼機炸彈設計的炸彈專家表示，這些裝置可能會在電池組內產生火花，足以點燃起爆材料，並引發 PETN 片爆炸。

兩位電池專家表示，由於炸藥和包裝材料約佔體積的三分之一，因此電池組的電量僅為其 35 克重量的一小部分。

英國Newcastle大學鋰電池專家Paul Christensen表示：“這佔無法解釋的重量的一大部份。”

黎巴嫩消息人士稱，在某個時候，真主黨注意到電池的電量消耗速度比預期的要快。然而，這個問題似乎並沒有引起重大的安全問題 - 該組織在襲擊發生前幾個小時仍在向其成員提供傳呼機。

9月17日，貝魯特南郊和真主黨其他據點的數千台傳呼機同時爆炸，大多數情況下是在設備發出嘟嘟聲後爆炸，顯示有訊息傳入。

路透社目擊者看到，在被送往醫院的受害者中，許多人眼睛受傷、手指缺失或腹部出現大洞，這表明他們在爆炸時靠近這些裝置。總的來說，傳呼機攻擊, 以及接著在翌日啟動的武器化對講機爆炸共造成 39 人死亡、3,400 多人受傷。

兩名西方保安消息人士稱，以色列情報機構Mossad帶領這次用傳呼機及對講機來進行攻擊。

路透社無法確定這些裝置的生產地。對Mossad擁有掌控權的以色列總理內塔尼亞胡辦公室沒有回應置評請求。

黎巴嫩資訊部和真主黨發言人拒絕對本文發表評論。

以色列既沒有否認也沒有確認其角色。襲擊發生第二天，以色列國防部長加蘭特在評論中稱讚Mossad取得了「非常令人印象深刻」的成果，這些評論在以色列被廣泛解讀為默認該機構的參與。

美國官員表示，他們事先並未獲悉此行動。

（待續）

"At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers undergo training in Russia" - US presidential aide

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

“北朝鮮兵 少なくとも3000人がロシアで訓練”米大統領補佐官

2024年10月24日 8時57分

アメリカのホワイトハウスのカービー大統領補佐官は少なくとも3000人の北朝鮮の兵士がロシア東部にある複数の軍事施設で訓練を受けているという見方を明らかにしました。訓練を終えたあと、軍事侵攻が続くウクライナの前線に向かう可能性があるとして、関係国とともに動向を注視する考えを示しました。

アメリカのカービー大統領補佐官は23日の記者会見で「今月上旬から中旬までに北朝鮮の兵士少なくとも3000人がロシア東部に移動したとみている」と述べました。

兵士らは船で北朝鮮東部のウォンサン（元山）付近からロシア極東のウラジオストクに移動したあと、東部にある複数の軍事施設で訓練を受けているとみられ、その後、軍事侵攻が続くウクライナの前線に向かう可能性があると指摘しました。

カービー補佐官はこの動きはロシアが戦場で多くの犠牲者を出していることの表れだとしたうえで「北朝鮮とロシアの軍事協力は前例のないレベルにあり、ヨーロッパや、インド太平洋地域の安全保障にも影響する」として関係国とともに動向を注視する考えを示しました。

北朝鮮の兵士派遣をめぐっては、アメリカのオースティン国防長官も「深刻な問題だ」として危機感を示していました。

Translation

"At least 3,000 North Korean soldiers undergo training in Russia" - US presidential aide

White House National Security Advisor Kirby said he believed that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers were undergoing training at multiple military facilities in eastern Russia. After completing their training, they might head for the front line in Ukraine where military aggression was continuing, and he indicated the intention to closely monitor the situation together with related countries.

At a press conference on the 23rd, US National Security Advisor Kirby said, "We believe that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers had traveled to eastern Russia between the beginning and the middle of this month."

These soldiers were believed to have traveled by boat from near Wonsan in eastern North Korea to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, and were believed to have undergone training at multiple military facilities in the east, and then might head towards the front line in Ukraine, where military aggression was continuing.

Kirby said this move was a sign that Russia was suffering heavy casualties on the battlefield, and stated that "military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is at an unprecedented level, which has implications for the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region," and that he planned to closely monitor developments together with related countries.

US Secretary of Defense Austin had also expressed concern about North Korea's deployment of troops, calling it a "serious issue."

So, the US believes that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers are undergoing training at multiple military facilities in eastern Russia and they may head for the front line in Ukraine soon. Apparently, the conflict in Ukraine is escalating and I am wondering what action South Korea will take in response to this military cooperation. I believe that there is no free lunch for Russia and wonder what North Korea will get from Russia in return. Could it be the technology in making missiles?

諾貝爾經濟學獎頒給三位經濟學家，他們發現更自由的社會更有可能繁榮 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Nobel economics prize goes to 3 economists who found that freer societies are more likely to prosper (2/2)

Daniel Niemann, Mike Corder And Paul Wiseman

Tue, October 15, 2024 at 4:45 a.m. GMT+8·6 min read

The Associated Press

(continue)

In their work, the winners looked, for instance, at the city of Nogales, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border.

Despite sharing the same geography, climate and a common culture, life is very different on either side of the border. In Nogales, Arizona, to the north, residents are relatively well-off and live long lives; most children graduate from high school. To the south, in Mexico’s Nogales, Sonora, residents are much poorer, and organized crime and corruption abound.

The difference, the economists found, is a U.S. system that protects property rights and gives citizens a say in their government.

Acemoglu expressed worry Monday that democratic institutions in the United States and Europe were losing support from the population.

“Support for democracy is at an all-time low, especially in the U.S., but also in Greece and in the UK and France,“ Acemoglu said on the sidelines of the conference in an Athens suburb.

“And I think that is a symbol of how people are disappointed with democracy,” he said. “They think democracy hasn’t delivered what it promised.''

Robinson agreed. "Clearly, you had an attack on inclusive institutions in this country," he said. “You had a presidential candidate who denied that he lost the last election. So President (Donald) Trump rejected the democratic rule of the citizens. ... Of course, I’m worried. I’m a concerned citizen.”

Johnson told the AP that economic pressures were alienating many Americans.

“A lot of people who were previously in the middle class were hit very hard by the combination of globalization, automation, the decline of trade unions, and a sort of shift more broadly in corporate philosophy,'' Johnson said. "So instead of workers being a resource to be developed, which they were in the 19th and early 20th century, they became a cost to be minimized ... Now, that squeezed the middle class.’’

"We have, as a country, failed to deliver in recent decades on what we were previously very good at, which was sharing prosperity,'' Johnson said.

One key for the future, Johnson said, is how societies manage new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

“AI could go either way," he said. "AI could either empower people with a lot of education, make them more highly skilled, enable them to do more tasks and get more pay. Or it could be another massive wave of automation that pushes the remnants of the middle down to the bottom. And then, yes, you’re not going to like the political outcomes.’’

In their work, the economists studied institutions that European powers such as Britain and Spain put in place when they colonized much of the world starting in the 1600s. They brought different policies to different places, giving later researchers a “natural experiment" to analyze.

Colonies that were sparsely populated offered less resistance to foreign rule and therefore attracted more settlers. In those places, colonial governments tended to establish more inclusive economic institutions that “incentivized settlers to work hard and invest in their new homeland. In turn, this led to demands for political rights that gave them a share of profits,” the Nobel committee said.

In more densely populated places that attracted fewer settlers, the colonial regimes limited political rights and set up institutions that focused on “benefiting a local elite at the expense of the wider population," it said.

“Paradoxically, this means that the parts of the colonized world that were relatively the most prosperous around 500 years ago are now those that are relatively poor,” it added, noting that India’s industrial production exceeded the American colonies’ in the 18th century.

The economics prize is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The central bank established it in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel, the 19th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and established the five Nobel Prizes.

Though Nobel purists stress that the economics prize is technically not a Nobel Prize, it is always presented together with the others on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.

Nobel honors were announced last week in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.

Translation

諾貝爾經濟學獎頒給三位經濟學家，他們發現更自由的社會更有可能繁榮 (2/2)

（繼續）

例如，獲獎者在他們的作品中著眼於橫跨美國和墨西哥邊境的Nogales市。

儘管地理、氣候和文化相同，但邊境兩邊的生活卻截然不同。在北部的亞利桑那州的Nogales，居民相對富裕，壽命較長。大多數孩子高中畢業。在南部的墨西哥索諾拉州的Nogales，居民貧窮得多，有組織的犯罪和腐敗比比皆是。

經濟學家發現，差異在於美國的制度是會保護財產權並賦予公民在政府中的發言權。

Acemoglu週一對美國和歐洲的民主機構正在失去民眾的支持表示擔憂。

Acemoglu在參加雅典郊區舉行的附屬會議中表示: 「對民主的支持處於歷史最低水平，尤其是在美國，但在希臘、英國和法國也是如此」。

他說:「我認為這象徵著人們對民主感到失望」; 「他們認為民主沒有兌現其承諾」。

Robinson表示同意。他說: 「顯然，你們曾發生過對這個國家的包容性機構發起了攻擊」。 「有一位總統候選人否認自己輸掉了上次選舉。因此，特朗普總統是排斥了公民的民主統治。 ……當然，我很擔心。我是一個關心此事的公民」。

Johnson告訴美聯社，經濟壓力正在疏遠許多美國人。

Johnson說：「全球化、自動化、工會衰落以及企業理念的更廣泛轉變等因素綜合在一起，讓許多以前屬於中產階級的人受到了沉重打擊」; 「因此，工人不再像 19 世紀和 20 世紀初那樣成為一種需要開發的資源，而是成為一種最需要降低價格的成本……現在，這擠壓了中產階級」。

Johnson說： “作為一個國家，近幾十年來我們未能實現我們以前非常擅長的事情，那就是共享繁榮。”

Johnson說，未來的關鍵之一是社會如何管理人工智慧等新技術。

他說:「人工智慧可以走任何一條路」;「人工智慧可以使人們接受大量教育，提高他們的技能，使他們能夠完成更多任務並獲得更多報酬。或者，這可能是另一波大規模的自動化浪潮，將殘餘的中產階級推向基層。之後，是的，是你會不喜歡的政治結果」。

在他們的工作中，這些經濟學家研究了英國和西班牙等歐洲列強從 1600 年代開始殖民世界大部分地區時所建立的當地制度。他們為不同的地方帶來了不同的政策，為後來的研究人員提供了一個「自然實驗」來分析。

人口稀少的殖民地對外國統治的抵抗力較小，因此吸引了更多的定居者。諾貝爾委員會表示, 在這些地方，殖民政府傾向於建立更具包容性的經濟機構，以「激勵定居者努力工作並投資在他們的新家園。正因為如此，導致了對政治權利的要求，從而使他們分享成果」。

報告稱，在人口稠密、吸引較少定居者的地方，殖民政權限制政治權利，並建立了專注於「以犧牲更廣泛人口為代價，讓當地精英受益」的架構。

報告補充說：「矛盾的是，這意味著 500 年前相對最繁榮的殖民地地區現在卻是相對貧窮的地區」;它指出在18 世紀, 印度的工業生產超過了美洲殖民地的。

該經濟學獎的正式名稱為紀念阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾的瑞典銀行經濟科學獎。中央銀行於 1968 年建立了它，以紀念諾貝爾，這位 19 世紀的瑞典商人和化學家發明了炸藥並設立了五項諾貝爾獎。

儘管諾貝爾純粹主義者強調，從技術上講，經濟學獎並不是諾貝爾獎，但它總是在 12 月 10 日，即 1896 年諾貝爾逝世週年紀念日與其他獎項一起頒發。

上週公佈了諾貝爾醫學獎、物理學獎、化學獎、文學獎和和平獎。

              So, the Nobel memorial prize in economics is awarded to three economists who have studied why some countries are rich and others poor and suggest that freer, open societies are more likely to prosper in the long run. Their research underscores the value of democratic institutions that tends to have an inclusive society. I share their observation that the parts of the colonized world that were relatively the most prosperous around 500 years ago are now those that are relatively poor, after noting that India’s industrial production exceeded the American colonies (including the future US) in the 18th century.

諾貝爾經濟學獎頒給三位經濟學家，他們發現更自由的社會更有可能繁榮 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Nobel economics prize goes to 3 economists who found that freer societies are more likely to prosper (1/2)

Daniel Niemann, Mike Corder And Paul Wiseman

Tue, October 15, 2024 at 4:45 a.m. GMT+8·6 min read

The Associated Press

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel memorial prize in economics was awarded Monday to three economists who have studied why some countries are rich and others poor and have documented that freer, open societies are more likely to prosper.

The work by Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity,” the Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at the announcement in Stockholm.

Acemoglu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson does his research at the University of Chicago.

Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said their analysis has provided "a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.”

Reached by the academy in Athens, Greece, where he was to speak at a conference, the Turkish-born Acemoglu, 57, said he was astonished by the award.

“You never expect something like this," he said.

Acemoglu said the research honored by the prize underscores the value of democratic institutions.

“I think broadly speaking the work that we have done favors democracy,” he said in a telephone call with the Nobel committee and reporters in Stockholm.

But, he added: “Democracy is not a panacea. Introducing democracy is very hard. When you introduce elections, that sometimes creates conflict.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Robinson, 64, said he doubts that China can sustain its economic prosperity as long as it keeps a repressive political system.

“There’s many examples in world history of societies like that that do well for 40, 50 years," Robinson said by phone. “What you see is that’s never sustainable. ... The Soviet Union did well for 50 or 60 years.''

Robinson said many societies have successfully made the transition to what he, Acemoglu and Johnson call an “inclusive society.’’

“Look at the United States," Robinson said. “This was a country of slavery, of privilege, where women were not allowed to take part in the economy or vote.”

“Every country that is currently relatively inclusive and open made that transition," he added. "In the modern world, you’ve seen that in South Korea, in Taiwan, in Mauritius.’’

Acemoglu and Robinson wrote the 2012 bestseller, “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty," which argued that manmade problems were responsible for keeping countries poor.

(to be continued)

諾貝爾經濟學獎頒給三位經濟學家，他們發現更自由的社會更有可能繁榮 (1/2)

斯德哥爾摩（美聯社）- 週一，諾貝爾經濟學獎授予了三位經濟學家，他們研究了為什麼有些國家富裕而另一些國家貧窮，並證明了更自由、開放的社會更有可能繁榮。

瑞典皇家科學院諾貝爾委員會在斯德哥爾摩宣布，Daron Acemoglu、Simon Johnson和James A. Robinson的工作「證明了社會架構對一個國家繁榮的重要性」。

阿Acemoglu和Johnson在麻省理工學院工作，而Robinson在芝加哥大學進行研究。

經濟科學獎委員會主席Jakob Svensson表示，他們的分析「讓人們對各國失敗或成功的根本原因有了更深入的了解」。

57 歲的土耳其出生的Acemoglu要到希臘雅典的一個會議發言，期間他接到了在希臘的科學院的電話，他說他對這個獎項感到驚訝。

他說:「你永遠不會想到會發生這樣的事情」。

Acemoglu表示，獲獎研究強調了民主制度的價值。

他在斯德哥爾摩與諾貝爾委員會和記者通電話時表示:「我認為，從廣義上講，我們所做的工作有所垂青民主」。

但是，他補充說：「民主不是萬能藥。引入民主是非常困難的。當你引入選舉時，有時會產生衝突」。

64 歲的Robinson在接受美聯社採訪時表示，他懷疑如果中國維持高壓政治制度，就無法維持經濟繁榮。

Robinson在電話中說：「世界歷史上有很多這樣的社會有40、50 年的良好表現的例子」。「你看到的是這種情況永遠不會可持續 … 蘇聯有50 或60 年的良好表現」。

Robinson表示，許多社會已經成功過渡到他、Acemoglu和Johnson所說的「包容性社會」。

Robinson說: “看看美國” ;“這曾是一個有奴隸制，特權階级的國家，婦女不被允許參與經濟或投票。”

他補充道:“目前每個相對包容和開放的國家都做出了這一轉變”; “在現代世界，你可以在韓國、台灣和毛里求斯看到這種情況。”

Acemoglu和Robinson撰寫了 2012 年暢銷書《國家為何失敗：權力、繁榮和貧窮的起源》，書中認為人為問題是造成國家貧窮的原因。

（待續）

特朗普指責烏克蘭澤連斯基引起對俄羅斯的戰爭

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Trump blames Ukraine's Zelenskiy for starting war with Russia

Gram Slattery

Fri, October 18, 2024 at 2:57 a.m. GMT+8·2 min read

By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Thursday blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for helping start that nation's war with Russia, a comment that further suggests Trump is likely to radically shift U.S. policy toward Ukraine if he wins the Nov. 5 election.

The Republican former president has frequently criticized Zelenskiy on the campaign trail, repeatedly calling him "the greatest salesman on Earth" for having solicited and received billions of dollars of U.S. military aid since the war broke out in 2022.

Trump has also slammed the Ukrainian leader for failing to seek peace with Moscow, and he has suggested Ukraine may have to cede some of its land to Russia to make a peace deal, a concession Kyiv considers unacceptable.

Trump's comments on the PBD Podcast on Thursday with Patrick Bet-David went a step further than his previous criticism. He said Zelenskiy was to blame not just for failing to end the war, but for helping start it, even though the conflict broke out when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory.

"That doesn't mean I don't want to help him because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start. The war's a loser," Trump said.

Zelenskiy presented his "victory plan" to end the war to Trump during a meeting in New York in September, an encounter both leaders described as cordial.

Trump's public comments, however, suggest he could seek to wind down aid for Ukraine if he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, on Nov. 5. He has repeatedly said he could end the conflict before he takes office in January, but he has not said how.

Harris has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine, and she has portrayed a victory for the eastern European nation as a vital U.S. national security interest. She has frequently rebuked Trump for being unwilling to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)

Translation

特朗普指責烏克蘭澤連斯基引起對俄羅斯的戰爭

華盛頓（路透社） - 特朗普週四指責烏克蘭總統澤連斯基幫助引發了該國與俄羅斯的戰爭，這一評論進一步表明，如果特朗普贏得11 月5 日的選舉，他可能會徹底改變美國對烏克蘭的政策。

這位共和黨前總統在競選過程中經常批評澤連斯基，多次稱他是“地球上最偉大的推銷員”，因為他自2022 年戰爭爆發以來向美國尋求並獲得了數十億美元的軍事援助。

特朗普也抨擊烏克蘭領導人未能尋求與莫斯科和平，並建議烏克蘭可能不得不將部分土地割讓給俄羅斯才能達成和平協議，基輔認為這項讓步是不可接受的。

特朗普週四在 PBD播客與Patrick Bet-David一起時的評論, 比他之前的批評更進了一步。他表示，澤倫斯基不僅要為未能結束戰爭負責，還要為戰爭的發生負責，儘管衝突是在俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭主權領土時爆發的。

特朗普說:「這並不意味著我不想幫助他，因為我為那些人感到非常難過。但他不應該讓那場戰爭發生。這場戰爭是失敗者」。

澤連斯基九月在紐約舉行的一次會議上向特朗普提出了結束戰爭的“勝利計劃”，兩位領導人都形容這次會面很親切。

然而，特朗普的公開言論表明，如果他在11 月5 日擊敗民主黨候選人、即副總統賀錦麗，他可能會尋求減少對烏克蘭的援助。他多次表示他可以在一月份上任之前結束衝突，但沒有說明是怎樣去做。

賀錦麗承諾繼續支持烏克蘭，並將東歐國家的勝利視為美國至關重要的國家安全利益。她經常指責特朗普不願與俄羅斯總統普京抗衡。

              So, Trump said that Zelenskiy was to blame not just for failing to end the war, but for helping start it, even though the conflict broke out when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory. This view is opposite to that held by the EU. Apparently, Trump will follow a path of isolation again if elected.